NOTICE: Read the Forum Rules and check for Known Issues before posting!

test content
What is the Arc Client?
Install Arc

Open Beta Story Feedback Thread

forthewinwin#6386 forthewinwin Posts: 367 Cryptic Developer
edited April 2021 in Story & Lore

Good afternoon, Planeswalkers!

I'm Winter "Winwin" Mullenix, Senior Writer for Magic: Legends, and I wanted to reach out to all of you on behalf of the team and get some feedback on the launch story arc. This includes the tutorial, Tazeem, Shiv, Gavony, Tolaria, and Benalia.

Useful Points of Feedback:

  1. What have you enjoyed about the story so far?
  2. What have you not enjoyed about the story so far?
  3. Even if the answer is simply "more story", what would you like to see more of in the story moving forward?

Of course, any other constructive feedback is welcome! In the meantime, I hope you're enjoying the story we've cooked up for you all!

I'll see you in the Multiverse!

Winter "Winwin" Mullenix

Senior Writer | Cryptic Studios

Comments

  • As someone who invests in the story of Magic the Gathering and has been playing this game for a long time. I have found that the story can be very polarizing and people will ether invest a lot in it or not care at all. There is an old legend in magic where WOTC used to assign designers to write the story as a form of punishment but I think over time this game survives because of the art and the story. If magic cards where spreadsheets the game would not have survived, people need the story and the art to continue to be passionate about the game.

    Thank you for work on the story of this game.

  • Like pretty much the rest of the game, I find the story to be lacking in many aspects. While I didn’t expect a very deep story to start with, due to the game being an arpg, it all feels quite superficial, both the story of Magic Legends itself, and the connections to the existing MtG lore.

    As I was trying to gather proper feedback, I also realized it’s hard to reference the in-game story. The actual story missions are replayable, but the story is also told through the overworld intermissions and those are very fleeting. It doesn’t help that Ral Zarek and Jodah are basically the only two npcs that offer actual chat options.


    Some general feedback:

    Concerning the main story plot, we have only been teased about it so far. The antagonist, despite showing up in all the individual stories, is barely acknowledged. It’s all fine because it’s the early stage of the open beta, and all that, but it also feels like missed opportunities not to anchor the plot. Actively tracking the mysterious red-haired woman could be the reason why we explore Gavony and Dominaria rather than being told to visit those seemingly random destinations where we incidentally happen to run into our scheming antagonist, whom nobody really mentions. Also, what could that mysterious planeswalker possibly want with a body and a brain amongst other things, isn’t it a bit insulting to make Ral Zarek say he doesn’t see a common thread? It might be a misdirection, otherwise it’s not very subtle, is it?

    When it comes to the individual stories, I think it’s very dependent on how much the player already knows. The events and the characters are very succinctly described and introduced. A player with prior knowledge might know exactly what is happening, while a new player is being told enough so the missions make sense, but it’s frustrating when you know some of the context and be left wanting for more answers. 

    On Tazeem for example, we help prevent Noyan Dar and Thada Adel from triggering the Roil, and yet, we don’t go into details about what the Roil is or what they really were trying to achieve and we glance over their motivations and the consequences had they succeeded.

    On Gavony, I didn’t recognize Geralf and Gisa as existing characters from the MtG lore (I know less of Innistrad than of other planes) and I only looked them up because of another player’s comment. I realized there was much more going on between those two than what was hinted.

    A side note about Gavony, since it differs from the other planes where our playable character gets tangled up with current events and ends up “volunteering” their help. Their motivations are totally different when meeting Nani Oula and due to the story being linear and the dialogue options being what they are, it felt off.

    Some thoughts about a few characters:

    Nani Oula wasn’t bad, but so cliché. Volomir had a lot of potential; he might have been a character meant to be despicable, yet relatable in the Nani Oula context, and maybe even redeemable, but it all falls totally flat. (the voice acting didn’t help, but I blame mostly the script; that character really has the worst lines) The more famous characters like Nissa and Ral have been consistent with my expectations. Squee, while I recognized the character, I didn’t have the same expectations, and I thought the character was quite on point and very well utilized; I like that he shows up in the Mana Rig Mayhem event.


    I think it’s cool that our character connected with their own pocket plane and the mana towers, but was it only for game mechanics, or is there actually more to it?


    To sum things up.

    What I have enjoyed so far:

    - Consistent and substantial interaction with well-known characters. Even better if they’re an integral part of a mission.

    - Connections to the existing MtG lore.

    What I have not enjoyed:

    - Stereotypical/superficial characters

    - Predictable plots

    - Inconsistent or dull dialogue options for our main character.

    What I’d like to see more of:

    - Consistent and substantial interaction with well-known characters. Rather a handful well-picked, than too many just for the sake of it.

    - Connections to the existing MtG lore. Preferably assuming the player doesn't have prior knowledge.

    - More chat options when talking to npcs to discuss everything story-related.

  • ensignedwardsensignedwards Posts: 13

    For me, the story has been the biggest disappointment for the game so far. There are a couple of factors to this (poor voice acting for nearly all characters being one), but I think the problem mostly boils down to context. There's little to no context given for anyone or anything in the game, so there's no reason to care.

    This can take a lot of different forms. For one thing, a lot of things are given no explanation for people who aren't experts on MtG lore. For perspective, I haven't played MtG since elementary school, but the setting has always seemed neat to me, so I was hoping I could learn more by playing this game, but it doesn't really tell you anything.

    One particularly egregious example is Tolaria. You spend the whole arc fighting the Society of Mishra, but there's no explanation of who they are or what they're trying to do.

    Tazeem, also, gives little explanation of what the Roil is or why we should care. And in Innistrad, it's not clear how we uncovered Nani Oula's plot. It seems like I just wandered around talking to random people for no apparent reason until one of them spilled the beans on her. I mean, she was super sus from the start, but why do we only start investigating her then?

    The characters of the game also feel disposable. The zone arcs are too short to really get to know or care about anyone. What would be better is if we could have a regular cast of Planeswalkers who follow us throughout the game so we can get to know them and become invested in them as people. Bringing Squee back for the Mana Rig event was good; more like that would be welcome.

    I know this isn't intended to be a super story-driven game, and I'm okay with that, but I really hope the devs can do better in future. MtG has so much history to draw on, but right now you just don't see it in-game. It feels like any other generic fantasy game.

    Some suggestions for how to flesh out and add more context to the story:

    -As mentioned above, a consistent cast of characters we get to know in a meaningful way.

    -More optional dialogue from NPCs. Innistrad and Benalia do an okay job on this, but they should represent the bare minimum on that front, not the leaders.

    -More options in dialogue trees. Even if it doesn't change the outcome of the conversation, having some potential to RP our characters would help people be invested in the plot.

    -In general, anything to let us add more personality to our characters. Some non-human character customizations would be a good start. I'd also like to see voice-overs added to the player characters. To be clear, I don't mean extensive dialogue a la SWTOR (I know that's too much to ask for), but maybe callouts when you get a big multi-kill or something, like you see in Diablo III. Give us a handful of voices to choose from. It would help our characters feel like real people.

    -Lore collectibles. This should be very easy to implement; put journals and other clickies in the game world we can find, and have those unlock codex entries we can read at our leisure. If the budget allows, make them narrated like the journals in D3. You could maybe even add a (very small) boost of XP or aether for each one you find to encourage lore-hunting. Great low effort way to add a lot more backstory on the Magic universe.

    -Stop putting story NPCs in hostile areas, where we have to quickly skip through their dialogue because a bunch of mobs are trying to gank us. Part of my confusion around Nani Oula might come from having to skip half the dialogue on that quest because I kept being attacked while talking to NPCs.

  • skyeborneskyeborne Posts: 244 Moderator

    Overall, I think the story that has begun is interesting, but anti-climactic. I get that it's just the beta/launch story, but even chapters in a book have their own story arcs. We didn't really get a conclusion to the story. I am unsure if this is because the story was changed or added late. I think added late is likely since I believe, based on the blog posts, Benalia was the first region completed and that's why I think the Mysterious Planeswalker/Witch was left out of the story there. It could also be a limitation to wanting players to be able to go where they want to go when they want to.

    We know that the Mysterious Planeswalker is gathering items and doing something with the Mana Rig. It's left up in the air, in my opinion, if she is currently causing Mana Rig Mayhem or not. I personally like to think she is, and think it should have been hinted at more or explicitly stated that she is causing it. But, we don't really get any conclusion to this, I guess there could be a ''conclusion'' if you play Tolaria last. This brings me to the next point.

    I still think there should be a ''canonical'' story. Even a game like Fallout or Elder Scrolls which allows you to play however you want still have a canon storyline. For instance, I feel like it makes more sense to play Benalia before playing Shiv. In Shiv you are going against the Benalish Army, then in Benalia you are saving them. When I got to Benalia, my first thought was ''screw these guys, they're trying to take over my boy Squee's home, they can save themselves''.

    I agree with the post above me on a couple points as well. More dialogue options would be nice. So many times our dialogue choice is ''Continue''. It makes it sound like our Planeswalker is emotionless. "Please help us, there are elves attacking our scouts'' and we respond ''Continue''. (Just an example, I don't remember off the top of my head where it comes up, but I have a note here that it came up a lot.)

    I also think the journals or lore collectables would be nice. Some kind of in game journal that summarizes story missions and has entries for the collectibles we find, would give a reason to explore as well.

    The final issue comes from the last patch that shortened Tazeem by removing dialogue. Tazeem is now way more confusing for new players. You don't get told who Iliadi is, you don't get backstory to why the Vastwood elves are attacking Briarthorn, you don't get told about what leylines are, you shortened the ''tutorial'' by removing the story.

  • trueborn25trueborn25 Posts: 10

    I don't think the vast majority of players interested in this type of game are overly concerned with how deep the story immersion is; however, if the questing doesn't really make a difference in the world (i.e. go kill 10 werewolves or bring me Benalish symbols) then honestly it can feel very grindy.


    Cut-scenes like in the tutorial add to the story immersion, but once the tutorial is over that pretty much ends that experience. Also, for the love of all that is good, please implement a skip cut scene option. Nothing worse than starting a new character and being forced to watch the same cut scenes take what feels like forever....

  • Ok, so here's a bit of feedback from what I feel/experienced in my playthroughs. I will be adding more posts in this thread as I get to it. Also this is JUST feedback for what's here and a brief overview of what id like to see improve and/or be added to. I have tons of ideas for things to add and will be putting them in the various areas of the forums for you guys to check out- both devs and fans of the game.

    Below is just story...


    Starting experience:

    Ral Zarek- I really like Ral a lot in mtg as a whole and was overjoyed to see him as our entry point to the game. I feel however that he is under used after the tutorial. Id like to run quests for him also. He has untapped potential for the rest of the game imho. Needs to be added to in the current game as well as in future additions. Note- I still have to go back and see how the new starting experience changes.


    Gavony-

    Nani Oula- I love Nani Oula. I don't care if her story is predictable, I still love my Nani! -I fought Diablo in Diablo. It didn't surprise me when I fought him again in Diablo 2 and 3 and wont surprise me when I fight him yet again in Diablo 4. Its not the predictability of these things, its the fact that the trip you take is fun. If the characters are worthwhile, and I feel Nani Oula very much is, it makes up for telegraphing things imho.

    Volomir- He has weaseled his way into my list of all time favorite NPC's in any game and needs to become a recurring helpful NPC. His dialogue is perfect, taking into account what we learn is important to his character and what he wants. "They died of natural causes...pity!"

    Jostinia Markov- She gives the impression she's a potential big player in the area. I need more of her eventually. Id love a vampire player character and could definitely see her as a confidant for one. I like that she's set up as a minor rival for our dear Nani, but that she also realizes 'Who's boss' at the moment. She comes across as being smart, which is good.

    Ulav- I like Ulav a lot also. I like the interaction with him and would like to have more interaction with him as if he is an ally after the Nani story there is complete. He's somewhat broken as a person due to what he's seen and done, which is as he should be.

    **There are other NPCs here I like, but Id like more interactions with them all. More story from their individual point of views. More choices for dialogue with everyone as well. Needs more quests that have nothing to do with the main quest.


    Shiv-

    Squee- I love Squee. His dialogue and voice acting again are perfect imho. I like that he comes along with us as we do things to help out but that we aren't dependent upon him for anything specifically. He is another NPC I'd like to run into again. He's one of my favorite characters in the card game to be honest and I played with him in my deck a lot.

    Adeliz- I like her but need more of her in the way of going on missions with her.

    Daarigaz- I like him overall. Like that he shows up to help and that he gives us things to do. Would like to see him more in things to come.

    **I like the fact that you wind up saving goblins. Most games would have you massacre them instead of helping. I like that though some races in this game can be aggressive, and they are not labeled at bad overall.

    **I feel like Shiv is under represented in terms of NPC's. Needs more dialogue and quests that have nothing to do with the main quest.


    Tazeem-


    Nissa- I love that Nissa is in the game and I like that we get to fight alongside her. I like how she is written and that we know she's pretty tough but that she needs our help because one person would be overwhelmed. It doesn't take anything away from her imho. I l also like how she comes across as high and mighty at first, only to change her opinion of us after finding out we are friends of Ral's. This proves to her that we might be worthy enough to be trusted and powerful enough to help make a difference.

    Illiadi- She does what's needed and serves as a good quest point. She's likeable enough but needs more dialogue - common theme int he game atm in my opinion. I'd like more from her in future additions.

    Procyon- I like him a lot- to me he is easily the best of any NPCs here aside from Nissa. Would like more interactions with him, story and helping him about the map.

    **Again, I feel like Tazeem is a bit under represented in terms of NPC's. Need more dialogue and quests.

  • dreaddy#8633 dreaddy Posts: 4
    edited May 2021

    I like the world, the background story and how big the difference of the realms is.

    But the story itself is quite boring. And you are introducing and dropping new characters every mission, just because there is a book about them? There is no identification with them. I someone dies I'm not sad but I'm asking myself if I even knew here.

    The way the dialogues are designed well... I skipped a lot of them. Telling the whole story in textboxes is so 2005. Even Diablo 2 did that a lot better in 2000 ;).

    And I often don't get why I am even fighting. I mean yes it's an rpg on rails, so you are supposed to do what you are told by random npcs you never met before. But I am fighting to save the day for a bunch of angels and a few hours later I am comitting mass murder for an evil swamp witch.... why? Am I some kind of mercenary without remorse that does everything for gold and expericence?

    And then according to the voices there is the horrible overacting of kama, a nissa that is constantly yelling at me and those necromancers in oveworld battles that have the portrait of a 12 year old but sound well... unexpected ;).

  • squirrelloidsquirrelloid Posts: 77
    edited June 2021

    The Act 4 plot is terrible. There was so much potential with the stolen artifacts from Gavony and Tolaria alone. Making use of them as intrinsic elements in Vaash's plot (where it matters that she's stolen an artifact body, and an artifact that can put minds into contructs) could have resulted in an interesting and engaging story.

    Instead, the actual plot went with 'my clothes ate them'. This is dumb. A middle schooler would have produced a better story. It didn't actually matter what the artifacts were. It's not clear why she didn't just personally hit the Tolarian Academy and rifle all its vaults for edible artifacts - no reason it had to be those artifacts in particular. (And probably a lot less effort than stealing one here and one there).

    Not only does this mean there were several chekhov's guns that were never fired, but it means Vaash's actions are inexplicable. If she didn't want those particular artifacts for what they can do, why does she go to such effort to acquire them. It makes a hash of the whole plot (which was already held together with coincidence, duct tape, and bailing wire). I am exceedingly disappointed.

    Act IV should be removed and completely redone from the ground up. There's nothing worth saving from it.

Sign In or Register to comment.